E/CN.4/2004/3/Add.3 page 18 F. Detention of foreigners 57. Act No. 22.439 on migration, which was adopted during the military dictatorship, authorizes the Ministry of the Interior or Migration Department to order the detention of any foreigner whose expulsion from the national territory has been ordered. Article 40 of the Act stipulates that “in no case may the period of detention be longer than that strictly necessary to give effect to the expulsion of the foreigner”; that is, it does not set precise limits for detention. Detention is enforced without the need for a judicial order. The issuance of a detention order is an administrative matter and in practice leaves the foreigner with no chance of lodging an appeal against it. Although it is in theory possible to appeal to a court, it is a long and onerous process that is usually completed only after the foreigner has been expelled. The Working Group was informed of the case of a Latin American, Alfonso Juárez Cribillero, who was unable to appeal against the decision to detain him with a view to expelling him. In 2002, the Argentine coastguard expelled 1,482 foreigners, and the Gendarmería Nacional 1,772. Officials told the Working Group that the Ministry of the Interior or the Migration Department had the authority to release detainees on bail or on parole, but only in cases where the expulsion could not be carried out within a reasonable time. 58. Those detained under an administrative expulsion order are kept with common criminals in the same detention centres and police stations. The Working Group concluded that the system for detaining immigrants in Argentina gives rise to arbitrary detention and does not comply with the provisions of international standards in this area. There is a conspicuous absence of a law to regulate refugee status in accordance with the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS A. Conclusions 59. The Working Group would like to express its gratitude to the Government of Argentina for its openness during the Working Group’s official visit. Despite the logistical problems that arose, which, among other things, prevented the Working Group from completing its programme with a visit to the province of Santiago del Estero, the delegation was able to visit all the detention centres as requested and even to make unannounced visits to various police stations and juvenile detention centres. 60. The Working Group notes with satisfaction that one of the foundations of the new federal Government’s policy is the defence and protection of human rights, and that the Government has made some promising changes to policy in this area with a view to combating impunity and corruption, and that these changes have been overdue since the restoration of democracy. 61. Although the Working Group noted some interesting federal initiatives to address problems regarding arbitrary detention, it did not observe such initiatives in some of the provinces that it visited, where measures also appear to be necessary.